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Law degree programs are considered graduate programs in the Philippines. As such, admission to law schools requires the completion of a Bachelor's Degree , with a sufficient number of credits or units in certain subject areas. Graduation from a Philippine law school constitutes the primary eligibility requirement for the Philippine Bar Examination s, the national licensure examination for practicing lawyers in the country. The bar examination is administered by the Supreme Court during the month of September every year. Members of the bar in the Philippines are required to take mandatory continuing legal education in order to continue practicing their profession. Legal education in the Philippines normally proceeds along the following route:
History The University Of Santo Tomas established its faculties of canon law and civil law in in 1733 From 1734 to 1800, of only 3,360 students, only 29 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law, 8 with the degree of Licentiate in Civil Law and 3 with the degree of Doctor of Civil Law in that university.Jorge Coquia. ''The Legal Profession''. Rex Book Store, 1993. In 1890, the Universidad Literia de Filipinas was established in Malolos, Bulacan . It offered Law as well as Medicine, Surgery and Notary Public. In 1899 , Felipe Calderon founded the Escuela de Derecho de Manila and adopted the name Manila Law College in 1924 . The University of the Philippines opened its College Of Law in 1910. There were around 50 Filipino and American students.Jorge Coquia. ''The Legal Profession''. Rex Book Store, 1993. Justice Sherman Moreland of the Supreme Court Of The Philippines was named its first Dean, but after he ultimately declined the position, he was replaced by George A. Malcolm , who is recognized as the college's first permanent dean. Legal Systems The Philippine legal system is an amalgamation of the world's major systems which are the Roman Civil Law and the Canon Law of the Catholic Church inherited from the Spanish , English Common Law from the United States and Islamic Law . Law degree programs Law degrees in the Philippines may be classified into three types--professional, graduate level, and honorary. Professional law degrees In order to be eligible to take the bar examinations, one must complete one of the two (Ll.B.) program or the Juris Doctor (J.D.) program. Advanced degrees are offered by some law schools, but are not requirements for admission to the practice of law in the Philippines.
Graduate law degrees Beyond the J.D. or Ll.B., members of the Philippine bar have the option of pursuing graduate degrees in law.
There are two kinds of doctoral programs in law offered in the Philippines:
Honorary law degrees Some Philippine universities also confer the Honorary Doctor Of Laws (LL.D.) degree. It is given to famous individuals who, in the discretion of the awarding institution, were found to have made significant contributions to a certain field, or to the improvement of society or development of the conditions of mankind in general. Honorary law doctorates in the past include:
Practicality While advanced law degrees (LL.M., D.C.L., S.J.D., LL.D.) may elevate a lawyer's standing in academic settings, the basic law degree (LL.B., J.D.) remains the most important academic qualification to be admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines.Ricardo B. Teruel. ''Practical Lawyering in the Philippines''. Revised Edition. Central Professional Books, 1999. Ecclesiastical law degrees A few Roman Catholic seminaries and graduate schools offer degree programs in Canon Law , an ecclesiastical program that is not required in the Philippine Bar Examination s.The University Of Santo Tomas Faculty of Canon Law runs the oldest academic programs of this kind. Its Licentiate Of Canon Law (J.C.L.) and ''' Doctor Of Canon Law (J.C.D.)''' programs are open to priests, nuns, theologians, and even to lay people (i.e., trial court judges, law deans, family lawyers etc.). Judges of the Roman Catholic Marriage Tribunal typically hold academic degrees in the field.Official prospectus, University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Canon Law, 2006. Degrees in canon law, strictly speaking, are not considered law degrees in the Philippines. Developments There is a move among members of the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS) to convert their Ll.B. programs into J.D. curricula. There are currently two possible directions for the change: First, the conversion of Ll.B. programs through adopting a model substantially similar to the J.D. curriculum introduced by the Ateneo School of Law (the J.D. Programs of the FEU-La Salle consortium and the University of Batangas Law School are of this mold), and second, simply changing the name of the degree conferred from “Ll.B.” to “J.D.” while essentially retaining the same course offerings as those in the DECS Model Law Curriculum (DECS Order No. 27, series of 1989). ADMISSION TO THE PRACTICE OF LAW The 1987 Constitution Of The Philippines has given the Supreme Court the sole power to admit individuals to the practice of law in the Philippines .Section 5, Article VIII, The Philippine Constitution, 1987. This power is exercised through a Bar Examination Committee, an ad hoc academic group tasked to formulate questions, administer proceedings, grade examinations, rank candidates, and release the results of the Philippine Bar Examination. To be eligible to take the national bar exam, a candidate must be a Filipino citizen, at least twenty-one years of age, and holder of a bachelor's degree and a law degree obtained from a government recognized law school in the Philippines. Graduates of law schools from other countries must obtain a law degree from the Philippines to qualify for the Philippine Bar.Section 2, 5-6; Rule 138, Revised Rules of Court. Philippine Bar Examinations The Philippine Bar Examination s is the national licensure exam for admission to the practice of law. It is conducted during the four Sundays of September of every year. It is arguably the hardest and the most media-covered of all government licensure examinations in the country.Alexander L. Lacson. "A Nation Under Lawyers." ''The Practice: Business and Leisure Magazine for Lawyers''. August-September 2004 Issue. It is also reputedly one of the hardest bar examinations in the world.Reports made by members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, September 2005. For candidates intending to practice Islamic law in the Philippines, the ''Special Bar Exams for Shari’a Court Lawyers'' is given every two years. The Supreme Court Bar Office conducts the exam while the Office of Muslim Affairs determines the qualification and eligibility of candidates to the exams.Court En Banc Resolution, Supreme Court of the Philippines, September 20, 1983. Attorneys-at-law To be a full-fledged lawyer in the Philippines and be eligible to use the title ''Attorney'', a candidate must graduate from a Philippine law school, take and pass the Philippine Bar Examinations, take the Attorney's Oath, and sign his name in the ''Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court''.''The Legal Profession'', a lecture delivered by Associate Justice Edgardo F. Sundiam of the Philippine Court Of Appeals , Ateneo School of Law, June 2006. The full names of lawyers are found in the ''Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court'', and in a similar list included in a Supreme Court publication entitled ''Law List.'' Official Website, Supreme Court of the Philippines. Last accessed June 2007. LEGAL EDUCATION BOARD The Legal Education Board supervises all law schools and continuing legal education providers in the Philippines.Republic Act No. 7662, approved on December 23, 1993. The Board is headed by a Chairman who is a retired justice of a collegiate court (i.e., Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, etc.). Regular members of the Board include a representative from each of the following:Republic Act No. 7662, approved on December 23, 1993.
The Board has made legal reforms which include--the stricter selection of law students and law professors; improvements in quality of instruction and facilities of law schools; provisions for legal apprenticeship of law students; and the requirement of attendance to continuing legal education seminars for practicing attorneys.Republic Act No. 7662, approved on December 23, 1993. MANDATORY CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION Lawyers with names appearing in the ''Rolls of Attorneys of the Supreme Court'', unless disbarred, are all members of the Integrated Bar Of The Philippines (IBP). Bar Matter No. 850, Resolution of the Supreme Court En Banc, August 22, 2000, as amended on October 2, 2001, providing for the rules on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) for Active Members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). However, to be IBP members of good standing, lawyers are required to complete, every three years, at least thirty-six hours of continuing legal education seminars approved by the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Committee (MCLE). Members who fail to comply shall pay a non-compliance fee, and shall be listed as a delinquent member.Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 113-2003. The Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Office, established by the Supreme Court, is the official government agency tasked to implement compliance with the MCLE requirement.Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 113-2003. PHILIPPINE LAW SCHOOLS There are eighty-nine law schoolsMilagros Santos-Ong, Office of the Director of Library Services, Supreme Court of the Philippines. May 2006. legitimately operating throughout the Philippines . They include independent law schools, resident colleges, and affiliated units of much larger private and public universities:Directory of Members, Philippine Association of Law Schools, June 2007. NOTABLE LAW SCHOOLS Oldest law schools The eleven oldest law schools are as follows:Jorge Coquia. ''The Legal Profession''. Rex Book Store, 1993.
Bar Performance The performance of law schools in the annual bar exam can be measured using two criteria: Bar passing rate The bar passing rate is the proportion of successful bar exam passers in relation to the total number of bar exam takers coming from a particular law school. The national bar passing rate (proportion of all bar exam passers in relation to all bar exam takers) changes every year, and has gone from an all-time high of 75.17% in 1954 to an all-time low of 16.59% in 1999."Bar Passing Percentage from 1946 to 2003." ''The Practice: Business and Leisure Magazine for Lawyers''. August-September 2004 Issue. Law schools with the highest average bar passing rates include:
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